Source : the age
A Footscray townhouse sold to a first-time buyer for $810,000 at auction on Saturday, after a tight contest for the home.
The two-bedroom townhouse at 23 Souter Crescent was modern and featured an upstairs living and dining area and balcony. Jas Stephens agent John Galea had the sale; he listed the property with a quoted price range of $735,000 to $785,000.
“It’s very compact, but the ambience is very lovely,” he said. “The owner bought it off the plan 12 years ago, and she’s downsizing now she’s retired.
“The location is great there, it’s quiet, family oriented and has lots of families and couples.”
The auction began at the bottom of the range and two buyers competed. The reserve was set at $795,000.
Galea said they were both first home buyers, and the parties traded fast bids in varying increments, until towards the end of the auction.
“The person that secured it put two big bold bids,” he said. “Ensuring you’re bidding with confidence goes a long way.”
Galea said the winning bidder decided to buy the home quickly. “The young chap … only inspected it for the first time on Thursday night,” he said.
It was one of 393 auctions scheduled for Saturday.
In Preston, a three-bedroom home sold in a three-way negotiation after it passed in with no bids.
The aged house at 257 Raglan Street had mostly original features, and Nelson Alexander listing agent Nick Smith said it needed some renovation. He listed it with a quoted price range of $900,000 to $990,000.
“It was a deceased estate, it had been with the owner for many years,” he said. “It needed a bit of TLC. He’d updated the bathroom, but it was relatively original.”
Smith said the home was passed in on a vendor bid of $900,000, and three buyers put forward offers afterwards.
“[The buyers were] a couple who were buying on behalf of a family member, and they have backgrounds in the trades so they were pretty comfortable doing some work,” he said. “The [other parties were] a family looking to build a new home and the other one was a developer.”
The house sold for $980,000 and Smith said no reserve was set. He said the property was attractive to buyers for its block size of 471 square metres and location.
